Democratic congressional candidate Andy Caffrey has made a surprising campaign promise: If he wins his election this fall, he'll smoke a joint on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Caffrey, who's running to replace retiring Rep. Lynn Woolsey in California's second district, has lit up more than once on the campaign trail -- first at an Occupy event in Mendocino, and again last week outside the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a Fairfax-based dispensary that was closed by federal officials in December.

In just about any other congressional race in the country, Caffrey's puff would be launch-the-TV-attack-ads controversial. But not in the liberal Second District, which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge through America's pot breadbasket to Oregon. The legalization question has been raised in nearly every debate - and drawn mostly amens.

Such attention is exactly what Caffrey is looking for when he smokes on the trail.

“I’m willing to get arrested to fight for our rights, to defend our rights as Californians to consume medicine,” Caffrey told Politico in an interview. “If I have to do it, I’ll smoke a joint on the Capitol steps and get arrested to draw national attention to what’s going on.”

Caffrey, 54, uses medicinal marijuana to cope with what he's described as post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by a number of accidents, including losing all his possessions in the 1991 fire in the Oakland hills, his sister's suicide and a period of prolonged homelessness.

He is running against 11 other candidates.

Watch him campaign at a recent Occupy Mendocino event:

Below, the 16 states (as well as Washington D.C.) where medical marijuana has been legalized:

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Legal Marijuana Across The U.S.

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Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: alana sise

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: Bill Ward's Brickpile

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: gerbache

Also legalized possession by non-medical users.
Flickr: dok1

Legalized for medical use.

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: ~MVI~ (off to coron)

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: Doug Kerr

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: Ricymar Fine Art Photography

Legalized for medical use.

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: indywriter

Legalized for medical use.

Passed ballot initiative for legalized medical marijuana in 2012.

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: ckay

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: csbarnhill

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: http2007

Legalized for medical use.

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: psflannery

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: michaelwhitney

Legalized for medical use.
Flickr: digging90650

Legalized for medical use. Also decriminalized possession of less than one ounce.